Penny for your thoughts...

[spookyturtle 9,466]

No, it's not me.

Right.

[MrsCat 6]

No, it's not me.

Are you the ant working for free? And here I had your pigeon-holed as a profiteer. shows you what I know.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

No, it's not me.

Are you the ant working for free? And here I had your pigeon-holed as a profiteer. shows you what I know.

No, these are people I sorta know.

[MrsCat 6]

No, it's not me.

Are you the ant working for free? And here I had your pigeon-holed as a profiteer. shows you what I know.

No, these are people I sorta know.

hmmmmmmmm. . . . . sounds like a charles kinda scam. . . . . . is he making the lower level recruits run the store while he's on post?

[rebeccajo 14]

You know a bunch of ants?

Or lemmings?

[PlatyPius 5]

That's actually how business works, to a degree, at the bike shop I work for.

Greg is a volunteer. He's a retired investment banker and a triathlete. He comes in one day per week and waits on customers, enters inventory, gets us coffee (and pays!), and such. He's a great guy. Like I said, he volunteers. As a bike guy though, he's going to buy bike stuff - that's just a given. So, since he doesn't need the money that the owner would pay him if he were to accept it, he instead gets the employee discount on everything in the store. A bike shop is not like Wal-Mart. We pay just 10% over cost - ergo, it's a substantial discount. This was the only way that the owner could "pay" Greg without him objecting to it.

This spring and summer, we will have more "Greg's" in the store as well.

[Ling Ling 22]

Joe does have a moral obligation, and not a legal one, but this is both his blessing and a possible point of failure.

While on one hand Joe is smart for finding good people to help him out as volunteers, in such a relationship

the people running his business have no fiduciary responsibility to Joe or the business.

I contend this as a point of failure because just as Joe can release any of his volunteers, his volunteers can

essentially take his business and his clients without recourse by Joe.

These people probably know the business inside and out, as well as the marketing used, and the customer base.

The volunteers can decide to compete against Joe, and/or destroy his business from the inside.

I've found that success in business means delegation. If you have to do everything yourself, your growth is limited

by your abilities and your time. To be truly successful, you need to be able to make money even while you're sleeping.

(I'm doing it right now). It's easy to find cheap or even free help, but often not the best way forward. In my business, I look to hire people who are hard working, and as smart if not smarter than me. I pay fair and competitive salaries, and reward excellence.

I've always felt that hiring, using or trusting people who are not looking out for there own best interest is not the best way forward.

I firmly contend that, anyone that can't look out for their own best interest, can't look out for mine.

Not saying they're not good people, but not the kind of people that will help achieve growth in my business.

As a matter of fact, I'm sure they're good kind hearted people who would make good friends, but putting them in business (for free)

can be a liability to the business, and to the friendship. A risk I assess as too great.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

That's actually how business works, to a degree, at the bike shop I work for.

Greg is a volunteer. He's a retired investment banker and a triathlete. He comes in one day per week and waits on customers, enters inventory, gets us coffee (and pays!), and such. He's a great guy. Like I said, he volunteers. As a bike guy though, he's going to buy bike stuff - that's just a given. So, since he doesn't need the money that the owner would pay him if he were to accept it, he instead gets the employee discount on everything in the store. A bike shop is not like Wal-Mart. We pay just 10% over cost - ergo, it's a substantial discount. This was the only way that the owner could "pay" Greg without him objecting to it.

This spring and summer, we will have more "Greg's" in the store as well.

So he does get paid in the form of discounts on a good he'd buy anyway.

Moe, Larry, Curly and Sue don't get any discounts although they do continue to patronize the business. What they get is an intangible form of 'satisfaction' because all the other customers know they are the people who make it all work, and everyone thanks them when things go well (and blames them when they don't).

[Ling Ling 22]

That's actually how business works, to a degree, at the bike shop I work for.

Greg is a volunteer. He's a retired investment banker and a triathlete. He comes in one day per week and waits on customers, enters inventory, gets us coffee (and pays!), and such. He's a great guy. Like I said, he volunteers. As a bike guy though, he's going to buy bike stuff - that's just a given. So, since he doesn't need the money that the owner would pay him if he were to accept it, he instead gets the employee discount on everything in the store. A bike shop is not like Wal-Mart. We pay just 10% over cost - ergo, it's a substantial discount. This was the only way that the owner could "pay" Greg without him objecting to it.

This spring and summer, we will have more "Greg's" in the store as well.

So he does get paid in the form of discounts on a good he'd buy anyway.

Moe, Larry, Curly and Sue don't get any discounts although they do continue to patronize the business. What they get is an intangible form of 'satisfaction' because all the other customers know they are the people who make it all work, and everyone thanks them when things go well (and blames them when they don't).

So are you saying Ewok needs to pay the mods?

[William33 110]

Joe does have a moral obligation, and not a legal one, but this is both his blessing and a possible point of failure.

While on one hand Joe is smart for finding good people to help him out as volunteers, in such a relationship

the people running his business have no fiduciary responsibility to Joe or the business.

I contend this as a point of failure because just as Joe can release any of his volunteers, his volunteers can

essentially take his business and his clients without recourse by Joe.

These people probably know the business inside and out, as well as the marketing used, and the customer base.

The volunteers can decide to compete against Joe, and/or destroy his business from the inside.

I've found that success in business means delegation. If you have to do everything yourself, your growth is limited

by your abilities and your time. To be truly successful, you need to be able to make money even while you're sleeping.

(I'm doing it right now). It's easy to find cheap or even free help, but often not the best way forward. In my business, I look to hire people who are hard working, and as smart if not smarter than me. I pay fair and competitive salaries, and reward excellence.

I've always felt that hiring, using or trusting people who are not looking out for there own best interest is not the best way forward.

I firmly contend that, anyone that can't look out for their own best interest, can't look out for mine.

Not saying they're not good people, but not the kind of people that will help achieve growth in my business.

As a matter of fact, I'm sure they're good kind hearted people who would make good friends, but putting them in business (for free)

can be a liability to the business, and to the friendship. A risk I assess as too great.

A very well stated business plan. Cheers to you!!

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

... his volunteers can essentially take his business and his clients without recourse by Joe.

True. Let me add a layer of detail along those lines.

In the past, other customers of Joe who were allowed by Joe to become intimately aware of the inner workings of the business, tried to take customers away and start their own web-based business. They even created a new product, inspired by Joe's existing product-line.

Unfortunately for them, Joe's website has been around a while and has a strong brand name in the niche market in which it operates. The competitive site still exists but is no real threat to Joe.

[PlatyPius 5]

That's actually how business works, to a degree, at the bike shop I work for.

Greg is a volunteer. He's a retired investment banker and a triathlete. He comes in one day per week and waits on customers, enters inventory, gets us coffee (and pays!), and such. He's a great guy. Like I said, he volunteers. As a bike guy though, he's going to buy bike stuff - that's just a given. So, since he doesn't need the money that the owner would pay him if he were to accept it, he instead gets the employee discount on everything in the store. A bike shop is not like Wal-Mart. We pay just 10% over cost - ergo, it's a substantial discount. This was the only way that the owner could "pay" Greg without him objecting to it.

This spring and summer, we will have more "Greg's" in the store as well.

So he does get paid in the form of discounts on a good he'd buy anyway.

Moe, Larry, Curly and Sue don't get any discounts although they do continue to patronize the business. What they get is an intangible form of 'satisfaction' because all the other customers know they are the people who make it all work, and everyone thanks them when things go well (and blames them when they don't).

So are you saying Ewok needs to pay the mods?

Where's my check!!!???!!!

[rebeccajo 14]

... his volunteers can essentially take his business and his clients without recourse by Joe.

True. Let me add a layer of detail along those lines.

In the past, other customers of Joe who were allowed by Joe to become intimately aware of the inner workings of the business, tried to take customers away and start their own web-based business. They even created a new product, inspired by Joe's existing product-line.

Unfortunately for them, Joe's website has been around a while and has a strong brand name in the niche market in which it operates. The competitive site still exists but is no real threat to Joe.

I wonder how long Joe can allow his friends to run his business before some things in the business start to go awry?

[Ling Ling 22]

A very well stated business plan. Cheers to you!!

Thanks William...much appreciated.

... his volunteers can essentially take his business and his clients without recourse by Joe.

True. Let me add a layer of detail along those lines.

In the past, other customers of Joe who were allowed by Joe to become intimately aware of the inner workings of the business, tried to take customers away and start their own web-based business. They even created a new product, inspired by Joe's existing product-line.

Unfortunately for them, Joe's website has been around a while and has a strong brand name in the niche market in which it operates. The competitive site still exists but is no real threat to Joe.

So has Joe lost any friends because of his business practices?

Money comes and goes. If you make money, then lose money, you can work hard and make more money.

Good friends are not as easy to replace. Money is important, but what good is making money while losing friends?

At the end of life, does Joe want to be surrounded by and remembered by good friends or dead presidents?

[rebeccajo 14]

So has Joe lost any friends because of his business practices?

Money comes and goes. If you make money, then lose money, you can work hard and make more money.

Good friends are not as easy to replace. Money is important, but what good is making money while losing friends?

At the end of life, does Joe want to be surrounded by and remembered by good friends or dead presidents?

Well, it stands to reason that you can only take advantage of your friends for so long before they start to wonder why they are investing in you, no?